Wednesday, July 27, 2016

The Alabama men's basketball team released the 2016-17 non-conference schedule today. The schedule release was part of an event called the "Summer Tip-Off Event", held at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Birmingham. The event was streamed live on the official site, and I was fortunate enough to have the free time to watch. From where I sat, the event was a tremendous success. The dialog was fun, informative, and really embraced those within the university and outside it that desperately want to see Alabama basketball become something great. If the official site reposts the video, I recommend checking it out for those who were unable to catch the live broadcast or attend in person.

Avery Johnson said they wanted to put together a balanced schedule, and I think this fits the bill. You've got some marquee basketball programs (Dayton, BYU, Texas, Oregon and Clemson) mixed with some solid mid-majors (Coastal Carolina and Ball State were 21-win postseason teams last season, while Valparaiso won 30 games, played in the NIT championship game, and have one of the top 50 players in college basketball returning in Alec Peters). The surprise of the schedule is Alabama traveling to the Von Braun center in Huntsville to play Arkansas State. One of our readers commented in a previous post that he wasn't crazy about these off-campus home games, and I understand his complaint, but I also understand how tough it is to create an atmosphere in Coleman Coliseum when the students are on their holiday break. I think both the Birmingham and Huntsville games were scheduled with the holiday break in mind, and Avery took it further today, explaining that their interest in playing around the state has a great deal to do with recruiting.

What do you guys think of the non-conference schedule? Is there one game in particular you can't wait to see? What road games, if any, will you be trekking to see? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Avery Johnson has been winning over Tide fans since he was hired. One reason for this is the thought he's put into promoting the program. Whether it's bringing students back to games by improving the student section or taking the time to appear on local and national media every chance he gets, Avery has been indefatigable in raising the profile of Alabama basketball.

His latest move is intriguing. Instead of just a bland press release announcing the non-conference schedule, Avery Johnson, his assistants, and the players will take part in the "Alabama Basketball Summer Tip Off Event" on Wednesday (July 27). The event will take place at 4 PM, and will be streamed live at the official site.

According to the official site: "Alabama men's basketball radio play-by-play man Chris Stewart will host
the event which will feature a sit down chat with coach Johnson as the
pair will recap the 2015-16 season as well as preview the upcoming year.
Following that, the schedule will be unveiled game-by-game, while
Johnson and members of the Crimson Tide coaching staff will provide
commentary about each opponent."

I think this is a very cool way idea. Fortunately, I have some free time on Wednesday, and will be able to watch this live. To my knowledge, no other college basketball program has unveiled their schedule in this way (please correct me in the comments if I'm mistaken) so Avery is setting a precedent of sorts with this event. It's yet another smart move in Avery's attempts to raise the profile of the basketball program.

Speaking of the schedule, Texas released their non-conference schedule today. As reported earlier in the summer by CBS Sports Jon Rothstein, Alabama will travel to Austin to face the Longhorns in the first game of a home-and-home series. That game will be Friday, December 2nd. Game time is TBD. Along with the trip to Oregon that Bobby posted about below, that's two really tough road games for Alabama against what should be a top 10 team in Oregon, and a fringe top 25 team in Texas.

To my dismay, it looks like part 2 of the Oregon-Alabama series will be played in Eugene instead of Portland.Sez so RIGHT HERE
No date has been decided yet, but I assume this one will be within the first 2 weeks of the season.

The Clemson men's basketball team released their non-conference schedule today. As a result, we now know when (and where) they will play Alabama. The game will take place at Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, December 18. This will be the return game of the home-and-home series between the two schools. For Alabama, it will be their second consecutive year playing a home game off-campus. Last season, they played Oregon in Legacy Arena.

I really like the idea of at least one off-campus game per year for Alabama. The game against Oregon last year was great, despite the team losing the game. The environment was really good. In fact, I think the crowd on hand was arguably the best home crowd Alabama had all season. And the fact that the opponents so far for these games in Birmingham have been strong opponents has not hurt the appeal of the event. Last season, Oregon was the eventual Pac 12 Champion and a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Clemson could be a sleeper in the ACC next season thanks to the return of Jaron Blossomgame, a 1st team All-ACC selection last season, who went through the draft process, but elected to return for his senior season. And it would not surprise me if Texas is the opponent for the off-campus game next season, assuming the reports that both schools have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning this season are true. My schedule rarely allows me to return to the great state, but I am really hoping to get to Birmingham this season for that game. In interviews over the summer with the local media, Avery has suggested the location for the off-campus games could change occasionally. Huntsville was mentioned by Avery, but I imagine Mobile could also be a possibility in the years ahead.

In other news: The Alabama women's basketball team have released their non-conference schedule for 2016. The ladies will return to Coleman Coliseum for their home games after spending recent seasons in Foster Auditorium. I think this is great for the women's team; all Bama basketball teams should play on the same court. Kristy Curry enters her fourth season as head coach. It's been a challenge for Curry so far in rebuilding the program (a record of 42-51 in three seasons), but the hope is that the women's team can begin to take a necessary step forward this season. Season tickets are now on sale. I suspect we shall see some doubleheaders with the men's team in Coleman this season.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Charleston Southern have released their 2016-17 non-conference schedule. For the third time in five seasons, the Buccaneers will travel to Tuscaloosa. The game will take place on Tuesday, November 29th (Time TBD). The 15-16 campaign for Charleston Southern was rather dismal, as they finished 9-21 (5-13 in Big South play). This isn't the type of strong RPI game (Charleston Southern's final RPI rank was 297) the SEC front office is looking for their league teams to schedule so the hope is 1] Alabama wins the game (always important) and 2] Charleston Southern is an improved team and finishes the 16-17 season with at least a top 200 RPI.